Bittersweet
by catalysis
Summary: A vacation in Luca lands the normally spirited Rikku married to the cocky leader of the Machine Faction, Gippal.
1. Marital Bliss

I had the perfect life.

Had. The keyword there is _had._

...And okay, maybe it wasn't that perfect - but it was certainly good enough for me. I had two of my best friends at my side, kicked-ass on a daily basis, helped save Spira from evil and havoc twice, had a loving brother and father, and not to mention I was one of the most worshipped people across the land.

Life has a funny way of dealing its cards to me. Or maybe it was Yevon...I don't know. That whole ordeal with the Youth League and New Yevon still confuses me to this very day...but enough of that.

My life changed. Drastically.

Now don't get me wrong - not all changes are bad. I mean that endless cycle of Sin being killed by summoners, a small period of peace, Sin coming back again, destroying the land of Spira, being killed again, peace, resurrection, destroying, killing, and so on was stopped, thanks to the change that Yuna and Tidus brought to the world. That was good wasn't it? The people of Spira have their Eternal Calm. But it'd be pretty unfair to say that all changes are good.

But I couldn't think of defining this _change_ in life but bad! Especially when I have to think about what I have to put myself through for the next few months...

Crap. What a life.

---

**Bittersweet**

**Chapter One: Marital Bliss**

---

The day started out ordinarily enough. It had been a week after the defeat of Vegnagun, and Yuna, Paine, and I were still being stalked by those pesky news reporters. We managed to dodge all their questions for the time being, but Tidus was back again, and I kinda felt sorry for him. He was always separated from Yuna, but no one could do anything about it. That's when I proposed my idea.

"Hey guys!" I said suddenly, standing in the middle of the Celsius' cockpit. "Maybe we should go somewhere? To get away from all this attention?"

At that moment, Shinra's Commsphere network decided to interrupt me. Shinra immediately activated the one in Luca. Shelinda popped up on the screen. "Hey!"

I walked over to Shinra, having momentarily forgotten of what I was speaking of earlier. "Hi!" I replied. "What's up?"

"Well..." she began, "do you think you guys could do me a favor?"

"Sure! What of? Fiends attacking? Need to dismantle some machina?"

"You see, I kind of promised my boss that I could get an interview with the Gullwings. So..." Shelinda said, her face upclose to the sphere and hands clasped together. She looked desperate.

I turned back to the gang. They didn't look too happy with the idea. I could feel their pain...we were being hassled 24/7.

"I promise that I'll give you the best rooms in the best hotels with no interruptions!" Shelinda's voice said again. "No one will bother you but me, and I won't even keep you in the interview for that long! I'll even try to make it so that you stay for five days!"

Now that I thought about it, it would be the perfect vacation. Peace and solitude, with time to yourself. "What do you think, guys? Wanna do it?"

Yuna and Tidus turned to each other and silently nodded in agreement. I had never seen Tidus so quiet before...I guess they needed really time to themselves. Brother, Buddy, and Shinra also looked all for it. Brother and Buddy would probably scout for girls, and Shinra would be in his room, probably working on some new inventions. Paine just stood there with her normal stoic stance.

"Come on! Anything for you guys!" Shelinda pleaded.

"Well then, if you're going to beg so badly...I guess it's settled. We're going," Paine replied for us. Shelinda shrieked in excitement.

"Thank you so much!" she said. "See you soon!"

...Little did I know what I was getting myself into.

---

"How do you feel about saving the world...again?" the girl in green asked, putting the microphone in Yuna's face. I could tell she was growing weary, because we had been at this for at least an hour. Unfortunately, most of the questions were aimed at her rather than me and Paine, since she was practically the front man of the Gullwings.

"Well, I guess I'm sort of lucky," Yuna replied. "All of us could have been seriously injured or even killed. But I'm happy I could do it again - it's fun, in a weird kind of way."

Shelinda smiled, turning to the camera. "Well, that concludes our interview with the Gullwings! See you next time when we talk to Clasko about his remarkable chocobos!"

The cameraman silenlty counted down from three to one with his fingers and promptly signaled to us that we were finally off the air. I stood up from my chair and walked off the platform, followed by Yuna and Paine.

Shelinda came running up to us. "Thank you so much again! I'm forever in your debt!"

"Just keep all the cameras and other interviewers away from us and we'll call it even," Paine replied in her cool voice.

Shelinda nodded estatically. "No problem! See ya!"

The three of us walked away from her to go to the room where the rest of the group was waiting. Brother, Buddy, and Shinra got lucky and didn't really have to do the interview - no one really knew that they too were part of the Gullwings. All they cared about was the three of us - and the three guys were just happy with that.

As we entered the room, I noticed that Brother, Buddy, and Shinra were all huddled up around a table. They looked like they were playing some kind of game. Probably Brother trying to beat Shinra at Sphere Break. Tidus, however, was sleeping in his chair, his mouth up to the ceiling and open.

Yuna moved to wake him up, but I stopped her. I had other things in mind. Hehe.

Picking up a discarded newspaper on the table, I ripped a little section off and wadded it into a little ball. Taking up a stance six feet away from Tidus, I threw the newspaper ball...and it landed right in his mouth. Yuna giggled, Paine rose her eyebrow at me, and the three stooges weren't even paying attention. Hmmm...maybe another try?

I repeated the process and the second ball landed in Tidus' mouth. This time he gagged and woke up. I quickly threw the newspaper I was holding in my hands down while he looked around the room for the culprit, and his gaze landed on me. I looked at the floor and noticed that the newspaper was right at my feet. Pooey! Guess I could never be the sneaky guy...

"What was that for Rikku?" Tidus said, standing up. "Think you could wake me up the normal way?"

I swayed from side to side with my arms behind my back and tried to give off the innocent look almost everyone fell for. "Sorry Tidus! But you were right there and it seemed like a fun thing to do..."

"But-!" Tidus began, but was interrupted by Yuna, who made her way to him.

"It doesn't matter," she said, reaching up to peck Tidus' cheek. I could see Brother slightly sobbing in the corner of my eye. He'd been somewhat down ever since Tidus came back to us on the beach of Besaid, but I was the only one who seemed to notice it. Poor Brother...

Yuna yawned. "I think it's safe to say we're all going to go to the hotel. We all look pretty wiped out."

"Actually," I began, "I'm going to wander around for a while."

"Okay then," Yuna replied. "Let's all meet around 8 in front of the hotel for dinner then."

Everyone nodded and lazily headed for the exit...except for me of course! I skipped towards the door and headed outside for some fresh air.

"See ya!"

---

When I say _"I'm going to wander around for a while" _ I really meant it. I went to the ports, the movie theatre, that fountain in the middle of the centre, went to all the stores to check out their supplies (you never know when you need some potions or remedies), and chatted with a couple of people. What really surprised me was that no cameras suddenly popped up in front of my face, and no one asked me for interviews. Kinda made me wonder what Shelinda did...

But all that roaming about did eventually tire me. I've found that my favorite place in Luca to just sit down and think was that area before the entrance to Mi'ihen Highroad that you had to take the stairs to. I didn't know why...but it just made me feel calm inside.

Making my way up the stairs and smiling at a few of the Lucan residents, I began to wonder why this specific area was my favorite spot. Maybe it was the way the air blew through my hair when I was up there, or the way you could see people interact from below. Hah...yeah right.

Walking towards the edge of the terrace and leaning on the rail, I knew why I loved this place so much. This was where Yuna and Tidus started their whole little _'Whenever you need me just whistle'_ ordeal. I had been watching from the edge of the stairs and didn't dare break their little moment. It was pretty romantic - but at the same time I felt my heart break because I _did_ have a little crush on Tidus. Tiny. Itsy-bitsy. I swear.

...So maybe my crush wasn't that small. It was getting to be sorta huge...maybe almost love? But I knew I had to stop myself because I knew in my heart that Tidus loved Yuna and Yuna loved him back. I'd imagine that _my_ Prince Charming would whistle for me or something of that sort. And maybe he'd sweep me off my feet and carry me off into the sunset...

I'd always been a hopeless romantic. I had wanted what Yuna had - someone who would protect and love with her every fiber of his being. I wanted to feel magic every time _that guy_ touched me, to be able to sit back and know that I'd found forever. As silly as I knew it was, that had always been my fantasy, and I'd been waiting for that very special kind of magic for seventeen long years.

And for a while, I had thought that my Prince Charming had been Gippal. Behind his tough-guy act and his bad-ass reputation, he wasn't a bad person at all. He was fun to be around and was always laid-back, and he made me feel special inside. And then for some unknown reason, he broke it off with me, and I spent the next couple of months wallowing in self-pity. Father nearly had his ass, but I stopped him. I didn't want him to know how badly he had affected me-

"Well if it isn't Cid's Little Girl?" a voice said from behind me. I froze. Speak of the Devil...

I turned around, hands on my hips. "I have a name, you know!"

Gippal only crossed his arms and smirked. _"Riiiight,"_ he said. "So what brings you here to Luca?"

"The Gullwings are here on vacation. What brings _you_ here?"

"Just wandering around." he replied, offering nothing else. He uncrossed his arms and walked up right up where I was standing and leaned on the rail. Turning back around, I did the same thing. We stayed like that for a couple of minutes, but the silence was really starting to unnerve me. Sure, it was kinda nice to just be with him like this, but a girl like me could only take quietness for so long.

"So..." I began.

"So," he casually replied. He stood up straight and looked at me. "Wanna go get a drink or something?"

I raised my eyebrow. "A drink? You sure you don't have an ulterior motive?"

"Come on, I'm more gentlemanly than that," he scoffed. "Al Bhed's honor."

"I have to meet Yunie and them at 8!"

He rolled up his sleeve and glanced at his watch. Since when did he start wearing watches? "It's six. We have two hours."

I nibbled on my lower lip, contemplating whether or not to go with him. It'd be nice to have someone to talk to, and it would be nice for me and Gippal to start talking like old friends again. I sighed. I knew I had made up my mind as soon as he asked. Who was I fooling?

"Sure," I said, straightening up from the rail.

---

"Remember that time in the desert?" I asked, taking a sip from my coke and rum. We had been here for at least an hour, just chatting idly about the old times and such.

"You mean that time when you fell into that quicksand and you were thrashing around like a Malboro on Prozac?" Gippal replied. He had loosened up considerably ever since we entered this bar. Maybe it was the beer he was drinking? Now that I think about it, I _am_ getting a little sleepy, if not doozy.

"Yeah!" I chirped. "And when you finally pulled me out, you landed straight on your butt!" I laughed and was soon joined by his own laughter. I stopped myself as soon as I noticed I almost fell off of my chair. My head spun a bit. Whoa...

"Hey, you okay Rikku?" Gippal asked.

"Yup, just fine!" I said. I raised my now empty glass and signaled for the bartender to give me another cup of coke and rum. As soon as I got my order, I faced Gippal and lifted it up. "To old times!"

Gippal returned the gesture raised his own mug of beer. "To old times."

We clanked our glasses together and proceeded to take a hefty gulp out of them.

---

_"Frana luimt cra pa?!"_ (Where could she be?!) Brother screeched frantically. Everybody had gathered in front of the hotel to go to dinner. Rikku was already ten minutes late - and Brother was scared out of his mind.

_"Namyq Brother."_  (Relax Brother.) Buddy said, patting his friend on the shoulder. _"Rikku'c y pek kenm, cra lyh ryhtma rancamv."_ (Rikku's a big girl, she can handle herself.)

"Uhhh, you know there are some people here that haven't perfected their Al Bhed yet, right?" Tidus asked, scratching his head.

Paine rolled her eyes. She didn't know how the heck Tidus caught Yuna's eye - sure he was good looking, but once he opened his mouth...maybe she'd ask Yuna someday. "Brother's only worried out of his mind and Buddy's trying to calm him down," she said with her cool voice.

"Oh," Tidus replied. "Say, do you think you could teach me some Al Bhed?"

Paine sighed. "...Whatever."

"That's true Buddy," Yuna spoke, ignoring Paine and Tidus. "But all the same, I think we should look for her."

"Man, Rikku's been more troublesome since I left," Tidus said. "Me and Yuna have this way!" he shouted, pulling Yuna north.

"Well then, I guess Brother and I have this way," Buddy said, nodding off to Paine and Shinra before walking towards Brother, who was walking east while mumbling things underneath his breath.

"I have south and you have the west," Paine said. Shinra nodded and they began their search.

---

I immediately noticed three things when I woke up.

One was that my head hurt like Vegnagun had crushed my skull twice already and was coming back for the third time. My temples throbbed like crazy, my eyelids ached, and everywhere my body stung. It took me a while to realize that I was suffering from a very bad hangover.

The second thing I noticed was that I was naked. This didn't alarm me too much - sometimes I slept in the nude because it either made me feel more comfortable that night, or I was too tired to change into my pajamas. I took the bedsheet and wrapped it around my body, scooting to the edge of the bed to take a shower.

The third and final thing I became aware of was that I was not alone in the bed. This troubled me greatly. While moving towards the edge of the bed, I had come into contact with a warm, but firm and muscular body.

_"Rumo lnyb!"_ (Holy crap!) I shrieked, before tumbling backwards off the bed and landing head first on the floor. This succeeded in adding more of the pain to my head and waking up my partner. Gippal, who was equally hung over and also nude, sat up and looked at me with fuzzy eyes. It took him about ten seconds to notice what was happening and immediately jumped off the bed, grabbing a pillow to hold in front of his more private parts.

_"Fryd dra ramm rybbahat?"_ (What the hell happened?) he shouted, observing eyes darting around the room. Then his piercing gaze came to me. _"Tu oui nasaspan fryd fa tet mycd hekrd?"_ (Do you remember what we did last night?)

_"Cred!"_ (Shit!) I yelled in Al Bhed, looking down at my left hand. On my ring finger, the one that _used _to be bare, was a small golden band. _"Cred! Cred! Cred!"_ (Shit! Shit! Shit!) I cursed.

_"Lyms tufh,"_ (Calm down) Gippal said, hand reaching out to her, trying to reassure her. It was then that he realized that on his own ring finger, there was a ring. _"Ur vilg..._" (Oh fuck...)

_"Fa yldiymmo tet ed..."_ (We actually did it...) I whispered, horrified, and feeling ready to puke on the spot.

_"Mad'c dno du pa lyms,"_ (Let's try to be calm) Gippal said, looking as frantic as I felt.

_"Lyms?!"_ (Calm?!) I screamed. _"Fa fana vnelgehk synneat mycd hekrd!"_ (We were fricking married last night!)

At this precise moment, the door flew open, intensifying the panicked look on our faces.

---

**A/N:** Due to my sister's wish to see me write a Rikku/Gippal story, here I am. I haven't played Final Fantasy X in quite a while, so I don't know if Rikku was really there when Yuna and Tidus had their whistling moment. All the events that happened in that game are just a jumble of things in my head - if she was there, then great. If she wasn't...just pretend she was for the sake of this fic ;]

And I know that seventeen is not of legal drinking age, but just bear with me! I didn't notice that little error until way later in this chapter...and that part is kind of vital to the plot. And I really didn't want to go back and fix that mistake. I'm not promoting under-age drinking or anything...just pretend Spira has a different limit because...the booze isn't that strong? Hehe. Ox;;

Feedback is appreciated.


	2. The Aftermath

Tension. What was that saying again? ...There was so much tension in the room that you could cut it with a knife.

It was really starting to unnerve me.

Usually I'm the epitome of cool, calm, and collected, but when you have six people standing in front of you staring in shock, mouths gaping open, and all you have is _one pillow_ to cover your more intimate parts, you'd start to crack. I would have gathered the sheets on the bed and cover myself more, but somehow I don't think Rikku would appreciate it. Jumping back into the bed was out of the question.

Eyes darted around the room, still trying to assess the situation. I could feel three pairs of eyes on me - the High Summoner was staring at me with astonishment, Paine's were something akin to amusement, and Brother's...Brother's glare was, simply put, made me want to hide and cower behind the Al Bhed girl beside me and call for 'Mommy'.

Oh boy. He was _pissed._

I was starting to sweat under his defiant stare, and subconsciously tried to press the pillow closer against my front, as if it would cover it more. You'd think I would want to grab the other pillow on the bed, but somehow Brother's fierce look told me to stay put and none of my body parts should come within five feet of his little baby sister, otherwise something would be amputated.

My eyes were looking everywhere but Brother and Rikku. The ceiling, the walls, the door...the door looked pretty good right now. Maybe if I ran fast enough, I'd be able to make it out of here and run for my life.

Hah. As if.

As I was contemplating other ways to get out of here, a vaguely familiar blonde stepped up. Have I seen him from somewhere...? Blonde hair, blue eyes, with clothes of a blitzball player. Now that I think about it, he does sorta look like that Shuyin guy...but Shuyin's already been reunited with that Lenne girl. Hmmmm.

His mouth started to open, wanting to say something. I suppose he's going to be our icebreaker, is he? He'd better say something _smart._ Something not to make the situation worse.

Unfortunately, had I known who he was, his naïveté, and his darn habit of saying the worst things and the wrong time, I would've shut him up. I probably would've said something before him. Or maybe I would've just run away, taking my chances with that door.

"So..." the blonde-haired guy said casually, "Rikku's finally got herself a man, does she?"

And then all hell broke lose.

---

**Bittersweet**

**Chapter Two: The Aftermath**

---

A strangled _"Whaaat?!"_ from Rikku on my side, Brother lunging for my neck, the High Summoner slapping that blonde guy upside the head, that same guy cowering on the floor, Paine standing off to the side with a hint of a smile on her face, Buddy trying to restrain Brother, a little Al Bhed kid laughing next to Paine, and ten seconds later, I was still trying to find my voice in all of this mess. Getting alarmed of the threatening glare Brother was sending me and aware of the growing headache that was throbbing in my temples, I merely sat down on the bed (because I don't think I really had anything to worry about since Buddy _and_ Paine were restraining Brother now), and clutched my head in my hands.

_"Fryd dra ramm ec kuehk uh?!"_ (What the hell is going on?) Brother shouted. I felt Rikku bring up the sheets closer to her face before going under and hiding herself from view. I sighed. I guess that left me to answer.

"Uhhh..." I began. "It's not what it looks like?"

"Well it looks like you and Rikku had a little fun last night..." the blonde guy said. Man, I _really_ need to figure out who this guy was and _shut him up!!_

"Tidus!" Yuna yelled in exasperation, throwing her hands up in the air. "You're not exactly making things better right now!"

"...Tidus?" I whispered. Sounds he possibly be-

Rikku's head popped up from the sheets for a split second. "Tidus was one of Yuna's guardians on her pilgrimage, Gippal." she said. Oh, so Cid's Girl _does_ speak!

I turned to glare at her. "You _could_ be helping me out here, you know!"

She tried to give me the puppy eyes. Unfortunately for her, I was one of the few people who could actually refuse that look. "Well you're Mr. Big Guy, I figured you could handle it all yourself with your _smart wit _and _great thinking skills_..."

Flattery was not going to work. Before I could answer her however, Brother managed to escape Buddy and Paine's grip and rush over to us. His face was in front of mine, blocking my view of Rikku and disrupting my conversation with her, in two seconds flat. _"E's kuehk du gemm oui..."_ (I'm going to kill you...) he said harshly.

I scratched my head nervously. "Eheheh..." I weakly chuckled. "Nice to know..."

Jeez, where did all my confidence go to? All my manly-machoness? That bad-ass reputation that I worked so hard for? I sound like a bubbling, cowering idiot for goodness sakes!

"Uhh...Brother?" Rikku said. Brother's face turned around, and then he started to stare at her. I could see her trying to back down from it. Brother was _really_ intimidating today...

_"Fryd dra ramm fana oui drehgehk Rikku?!"_ (What the hell were you thinking Rikku?) Brother angrily said. _"Gippal...uv ymm baubma?!"_ (Gippal...of all people?!)

"Hey!" I yelled, insulted. "I resent that!"

The look in his eye as he turned back to me told me to shut up. Rikku also tilted her head at me so she could glare at me. So she was going to try to reason with him? Finally...the only people who could try to rationalize with him have been her and Cid.

"In case you've forgotten Brother," Rikku spoke, "I'm an adult now. I can do whatever I want!"

_Fru__ cyoc oui'na yh ytimd?!"_  (Who says you're an adult?!) Brother replied.

"Have you forgotten what I've helped do for Spira? Sin and Vegnagun? I don't think a mere teenager could've done what I did!"

Brother actually backed down for a moment. _A moment_ was the keyword. "That may be true," Brother replied in his heavy accent, going back to the English language. That meant Rikku was getting somewhere with him. Maybe I can get out of the unscathed? "But you can't just find anyone random and screw with them!"

"Well actually," Tidus said, chipping in his two cents. "That is actually called casual se-"

_"Tidus!"_ Yuna said.

The blonde sent a floppy grin the High Summoner's way. "Shutting up now..."

_"Hu E lyh'd!"_ (No I can't!) Rikku screeched, losing her patience, completely ignoring Yuna and Tidus. Oh crap...Rikku only speaks Al Bhed when she's really _really_ angry. _"E lyh'd zicd veht y nyhtus bancuh du synno yht E tet dryd zicd veha uh so ufh!" _(I can't just find a random person to marry and I did that just fine on my own!)

The room fell silent. It seems like the only person who didn't know what was going on was that Tidus fellow. Yuna and Paine, with their mouths hanging open, stared at Rikku like she had grown two more heads. Buddy and Shinra suddenly seemed more interested in where this conversation was going. Brother's eyes were hastily going back and forth between me and Rikku, in shock. It seems like he was waiting for a denial from me...but it never came. Rikku looked away from everyone's stares, tears threatening to spill in anger.

When the silence went on for a little too long for comfort, that darned blonde spoke, still confused at the situation. "Okay..." he said. "Someone wanna fill me in with the story?"

I sighed audibly. Noticing how rigid and stiff Rikku had become and still wary of Brother's gaze on me, I decided to speak. "Yesterday," I said slowly, "I was coming from Djose by means of the Mi'ihen Highroad to take a break from the Machine Faction for a while...and I saw Rikku on that terrace right after the stairs."

Brother looked to Rikku for confirmation, who nodded her head stiffly in reply. "We went to a bar to kinda...catch up and ended up being drunk off our asses...and I guess we found wandered to some chapel nearby...and got married."

_"Ev drec ec y zuga, oui lyh cdub huf,"_ (If this is a joke, you can stop now) Brother said cautiously. _"Ed'c hud vihho."_ (It's not funny.)

Rikku looked about ready to cry. I wanted to do something to help her, but it didn't seem possible with Brother standing there. Suddenly, her façade changed into a more collected one. "Get out," she said calmly and suprisingly even.

"Rikku-" Brother said desperately.

"Go." she demanded.

Brother looked like he was about to say something, but Paine interrupted him. "Let's go," she said to everybody. "Let's talk about this later with we're all _sane._" She then ushered everybody out of the room and then dragged Brother out of the room.

Before completely exiting the room, Tidus turned to me. Giving me a two-thumbs up he said, "Good luck Guppy!"

Maybe he was really stupid, or maybe I could excuse him because my name was said only about two times this morning, but I wasn't about to forgive _anyone_ for calling me that. That name's been haunting me ever since my Al Bhed childhood days. Teased relentlessly by the guys...laughed at by the girls...brought back bad memories.

"The name's _Gippal_," I said, stopping myself before I continued and called him 'Dipshit'.

The High Summoner just sighed and proceeded to grab his ear and haul him the rest of the way out.

---

Once everyone was gone, Rikku let out a long, deep breath. I turned to look at her. "Hey...you okay?"

I walked over to the other side of the bed, where Rikku was. She looked up at me and gave me a small smile. "As okay as I'll ever be..."

I sat down on the bed next to her, still extremely conscious of the pillow that hid just one thing. "We've gotten ourselves into a huge mess, huh?"

She laughed. "Yeah..."

After that, we just sat there in a long and uncomfortable silence. I didn't know what to say to her, and I don't think she knew what to say to me either. Seconds ticked by, and we still had no idea what to do. We didn't exactly want to go out there and face the world...we had no idea what we would do.

Rikku sat next to me, nibbling on her bottom lip, contemplating things and ideas in her head. I just sat there and stared at the wall. What a...nice...wall it was...

Suddenly, out of nowhere, her hand came up and smacked me upside the head. "H-hey! What was that for?"

"I've decided that I'm mad at you," Rikku replied, content with herself. "Now get out of this room!"

"Get out?! What are you talking abou-" I was promptly interrupted when Rikku stood up, still clutching the sheets to her body, dragged me to the door, opened it, and shoved me into the hallway. "What do you think you're doing!?"

"I told you to get out!" she exclaimed. "Good bye _hubby!_" With that, she slammed the door in my face.

"Open up the door, _dear wife,_" I hastily replied, banging on the door roughly.

Several people passed me by in the hallway, noticing my state of undress. I laughed nervously at them, trying to play it off. What a great morning this was...

"Rikku!" I yelled, trying to get her attention from behind the door. After three more hard knocks, I decided to give up.

I sighed. Where could I get some clothes?!

---__

**A/N:** Ack!! Sorry about the long wait - I had a little trouble in writing this chapter. You see, I kinda take a while to write things because I'm a perfectionist --;;

I thought I'd try to alternate POVs every chapter - Rikku to Gippal to Rikku and etc. Like the idea? Or would you like this to be the only Gippal-oriented chapter? Sometimes I feel when I write both Rikku and Gippal, they're kinda OOC. =/

And now for the reviewer response

**x**** Dreamin Of You x:** I'm glad you like the story so far. Thanks for being my first reviewer! Hope this is soon enough...kinda anyways.

**miyazawa****kano****:** Does it really seem like something our beloved couple would do? I just thought it'd be fun to write XD Thanks for adding me to your favorites list! I'm honored.

**cutekitty2:** Thanks for your compliment. I'm glad you like that it's different - most of the RxG fics I've read is that Cid's the one who's arranged the marriage, or something along that line...and I figured what the heck? What if they were married in the first place?

**Anna:** Glad you like the story. Sorry about the 'update soon' part though...

**Id:** You're right, Spira might not even have a legal drinking age at all. Good for me!

**GCLover****:** I'm happy that you love it. Here's the second part - hope you enjoyed it.

**RingPrincess****:** I'm glad you feel that I've caught their characters - sometimes I feel like I'm writing them OOC.

**Al bhed Princess:** Here's part two - I've continued! Rikku wasn't there at the whistling scene. Oh well. Whoops...

**i**** won't tell:** Glad you like it. Happy reading

**gothic-rikku****:** Is the bust by Brother and Tidus good enough? Okay, so maybe it was all Brother, but Tidus provided the comedic relief. Good right?

**Kiwifroot****:** Thanks! Here's my update.

Keep them reviews coming! ;]


	3. Hullabaloo

I know what you're saying. _You've finally landed yourself a man, Rikku. Way to go!_ And if maybe the shoe was on someone else's foot, I'd probably say the same thing. I'd probably even try to matchmake them or something. Get them to really know each other.

But as fate would have it, _I_ am the one experiencing this, and therefore _I_ am not congratulating myself on getting drunk and marrying someone without even knowing it. You see, imagining the situation and actually experiencing it are two entirely different things. Waking up in the morning, hung-over with a killer headache, only to find yourself in bed naked and married to a guy is pretty frightening.

...No matter how long I've known him, or how darn sexy he is.

And so therefore as I kicked him out of the hotel room, unclothed with just a pillow to cover him up, I felt no guilt, and was somewhat satisfied with myself. Gippal was still pounding the door, yelling tons of Al Bhed curse words at me. Geez, that man was annoying. Turning around, I quickly scanned the room for his clothes, strewn all around the hotel room floor. I started to walk towards each and everyone of his clothing, picking them up and creating a bundle in my arms.

"Rikku!" he yelled, followed by three hard knocks. I sighed, standing up from picking up his heavy duty boots. Would he ever give up?

It seemed he did for a few minutes. I used this time to pick up the remainder of his outfit. As the assortment of Gippal's atire grew in my arms, I noticed how heavy his clothing really was. Especially with the added weight of his boots, his clothes probably weighed ten pounds altogether! Maybe I should have a little talk with him about some lightweight clothing...now where are his gloves? Seconds after inspecting the room, I found them hiding in a corner and strided towards them.

_"Rikku, ubah ib dra tysh tuun!"_ (Rikku, open up the damn door!) Gippal shouted loudly. He startled me as I was reaching down for his fallen gloves and almost fell over, but I quickly righted myself against the wall. Giving no response to his command, I bent over to pick up the last of his garments and hastily made my way to the exit of the room.

Opening the door only a small bit that was large enough for his clothes but small enough for him not to see anything (because I was still undressed, and I _didn't_ have anything to cover me up, not even a pillow, you see), I gathered up all my strength and hurled his clothing at him. An _'oof'_ and a loud hollow _'thunk'_ was the only kind of response I got, and I hurriedly closed the door again. It looked like his boots made a nice crater in his chest.

Searching the area now for _my_ clothes, my face formed a ghost of a smile.

---

**Bittersweet**

**Chapter Three: Hullabaloo**

---

It was quite a while before I walked and dragged myself out of the hotel room, freshly showered and refreshed. Sneaking through the hallway and towards the elevator, I made my way to the lobby, trying to avoid everybody and a certain somebody that might see me. With a loud '_ding!'_ the elevator doors slid open and I stepped out onto the first floor of the hotel.

Quickly scanning the myriad of people that were cluttered around here, I soon spotted the group of people I was searching for, off in a corner and talking quietly amongst themselves. Brother seemed to have calmed down a teensy bit, probably by the words of Paine, since the red-blood look in his eyes disappeared, but the steam hadn't stopped coming out of his ears, and his fists hadn't stopped clenching. Ohhh boy.

Trying to extinguish the butterflies that were quickly forming in my stomach, I took a deep breath, trying to calm down. Closing my eyes for a few seconds and muting my inner voice calling me a coward, I opened up my eyes again and made my way to my friends.

With my bad luck, Brother was the first one to notice me walking up to them. It looked like he was using all his strength just to try to keep his current state of "calm". He always did play the part of the overbearing, overprotective older brother - it seemed that today, that role had went full throttle and blew up in my face.

_"Rikku-"_ he said, anger still evident in his voice, before he was cut off my Paine.

"Brother, why don't you and Buddy and Shinra go to the Celsius for a minute or two?" she said coolly.

_"But-!"_ his protest was cut short when he was met by Paine's gaze, which had underlying steel - not a request, but more of a command. "Fine," he said, before he and the other two mentioned guys headed off to the red airship.

"Thanks," I mumbled underneath my breath in gratitude. Paine turned back around to me, and by means of response, she nodded.

"Are you okay, Rikku?" Yuna asked, standing next to Tidus, looking completely concerned.

"Don't ask me that," I simply replied. "I'd probably take up the whole day."

"What's wrong?" Tidus asked. I was probably the closest Guardian to him, during Yuna's Pilgrimage (besides Yuna herself), and he could always sense my problems from miles away. Drat him.

"Well..." I said, hesistantly, crossing my arms behind my back and rocking back and forth. "I know it was my idea to come here in the first place, but do you think we could leave?"

"Sure," Yuna answered, sensing my clear unease at being here. "We'll tell Brother to ready up the Celsius as soon as possible."

"Have you talked with Gippal lately?" Paine questioned.

I winced. My mind was screaming _'Coward! You're such a coward!'_ again, but could you really blame me? I wasn't ready to talk to him, to face him, or to even see him again yet. I had to grow myself a spine before I could do that, and I was being cruel by just leaving and abandoning him here in Luca without even telling him.

"We said we would talk later," I lied, before walking away quickly, trying to hide my shame.

"You think she really talked with him?" Yuna asked, uncertain.

"Of course not," Tidus responded, easily seeing through me. "Rikku's probably trying to running away from everything right now, leaving the city like this."

"You think so too?"

"What's even more amusing is that they're so infatuated with each other," Paine added. "Rikku was the topic of many of Gippal's conversations during the Crimson Squad."

"Oh really now?" Yuna said, suddenly becoming more interesting. Paine nodded.

"Being outta the loop sucks!" Tidus whined childishly, still familiarizing himself with the new people that popped out of nowhere and how different things were since two years ago. "Ya gotta tell me more about this Gippal guy!"

---

It had been five days since my little fiasco in Luca, and it looked like I had success in trying to hide from Gippal. Of course, flying around Spira on an airship that could take you anywhere in a matter of hours probably helped - it made getting from place to place much easier. Besides, Gippal was probably back at Djose, tending to his Machine Faction duties.

I knew that I had to come face to face with him sooner or later - maybe a few more days for me to gather up my courage? But what was really bothering me, what really had been vexing my mind, was that one little rule that _all_ Al Bheds abided by. You could sort of say it was one of our commandments, like _'Never fully trust a Yevonite'_ and _'Be suspicious of all Guado'_.

The one that made me nervous at this moment was _'You only marry on one occasion'._ Once. That was it. No matter what.

...Which meant I was stuck for the rest of my life with Gippal, unless I did something about it. Now, being the daughter of the leader of the Al Bheds certainly had some perks - you were the most respected female Al Bhed around, and sometimes you got off the hook for many things. I was counting on my Pops to try to help me get out of this situation, which was why I was readying up the cabins on the Celsius for his arrival on the airship.

Tidy bedsheets? _Check._ Wiped all the dust? _Check._ Everything prim and proper?_ Check._

Sitting down on one of the beds and twiddling my thumbs nervously, I anxiously awaited the arrival of my father. Now, how to go about this situation? A. I suck up to him first, and then drop the news on him - or B. I could drop the news and beg on my knees. Ughh. What else? C. Tell him the news and run away. But where would I go? As soon as Pops got on, the ship would probably be up in the air again if no one had any business to attend to in Bikanel, where we were picking up my father.

Seconds were slowly ticking away at me, and I finally decided to go with Plan A. There was no way Pops could resist my sucking up. Hopefully. Now that my plan of action had been decided, I stood up from the bed and made my way to the ledge at the end of the wooden strip where all the beds were located. Jumping off of the ridge and landing on the floor below me, I chose to wait for Pops on a barstool in front of Barkeep.

The doors suddenly hissed open, and out stepped my father. Straightening up and plastering a cheery smile on my face, I went to go greet him. "Hey Pops!"

He looked up to see my face and smiled. "Hello Rikku," he replied before enveloping me in a hug. "How's my little princess doing?"

"Just dandy!" I lied. "You want something to drink? I'm sure Barkeep would make you something."

"Oh, no thanks, Rikku," Pops replied. "Now what do you want to talk to me about?"

Gathering my courage, I smiled. "Hey Barkeep, do you think we could talk alone for a moment?"

"Of course, Miss Rikku," the blue hypello replied lethargically, before moving towards the exit. I wondered where he would go? One could always find him here in the cabins, and you _never_ saw him anywhere else.

"Rikku?" Pops questioned. Taking his hand, I led him up the stairs to where the beds were.I found that being up here helped me calm down and think more rationally. _Plan Suck Up_ was now in motion.

Sitting down on the bed that I had been occupying about five minutes ago, I decided to open up the conversation with something unsuspicious. "So how's rebuilding Home going?"

Yes that's right - Old Man Cid was going to rebuild Home. Even though it went against what all Al Bheds said and had engraved in their minds - _'Memories are memories but that's all they are'_ - there was no denying that every single one of their kind were thrilled about this new project. After all, it was in their nature to make, create, and build things.

Pops sat down on the bed opposite of me and his face became overjoyed. "Oh it's going great!" he exclaimed. "Rin's been helping a lot with the fundings, and tons of people are out in the desert to help construct everything everyday!"

"That's fantastic!" I said. "I'm sure every Al Bhed is happy to have such a _wonderful_ and _intelligent_ man as their leader - everyone thinks it feels good to have a _great, strong pillar of importance_ supporting our every move!"

Whoo-hoo! Three compliments in one sentence! Now, what else can I think up of?

His face turned solemn for a moment, and I thought that maybe he'd caught on to my little plan. Just as I was thinking how to turn this around, he spoke. "Well this old man isn't growing younger by the minute," Pops replied. "Soon I'm going to have to get you to marry someone..."

_Heheheh__...funny you should mention that..._

"Well-" before I could continue, the doors slid open again. I thought I told Barkeep that me and Pops needed some private time! "Lemme see who that is."

Pops nodded, and again I went to the ledge and proceeded to jump off of it again. I was never a conventional person - I loved to jump off of that plank instead of taking the stairs down to the lower floor.

Preparing to tell off whoever had come in, I was met face to face with the person that could make this situation go downhill. Gippal.

"Hello," he greeted with a fake smile, before he dropped it. "I had to push past your little posse of friends to get here."

"Uhh..." was all I could muster out. How to get him out of here, how to get him out of here?!

"Who the heck do you think you are, trying to vanish without a trace before we could talk about this?" Gippal said, his voicing rising steadily and bringing in Pops' attention from the floor above us.

_"Huf ec _naymmo_ hud y kuut desa,"_ (Now is _really_ not a good time) I hissed underneath my breath. Gippal's eye merely narrowed down at me as he pushed past me.

_"E tuh'd lyna fradran un hud ed'c y kuut desa!"_ (I don't care whether or not it's a good time!) Gippal replied. _"Oui duug uvv pavuna fa luimt nacumja yhodrehk!"_ (You took off before we could resolve anything!)

_"Cu E's y lrelgah!"_ (So I'm a chicken!) I said, turning around to face him, throwing my hands up in the air.

_"Oui lyh'd nih yfyo ajanodesa cusadrehk kuac pyt,"_ (You can't run away everytime something goes bad) he snapped.

_"Kad uid,"_ (Get out) I said calmly. _"Kad uid huf!"_ (Get out now!)

_"Hu fyo!"_ (No way!) he retorted. Since his back was facing towards the stairs, he never did see Pops descending down from them. Before I completely lunged and threw my hand over his mouth to shut him up, he shouted, _"Eh lyca oui'ja vunkuddah, fa'na synneat!"_ (In case you've forgotten, we're married!)

---

**A/N:** I think I'm really bad about updates, don't you guys? I'm sorry about the wait again =[ School's starting up again, and normally that would be okay, but I'm in high school, where grades matter to me and tons of homework is assigned (especially since I'm in all honors classes) and that's going to be my top priority. I'll try to update when I can, but I'm not promising anything - maybe I can update every 2-3 weeks? Hopefully I won't go more than three months between updates...I hope you guys can be understanding

By the way, do you guys know of any good Rikku/Gippal fics? I've been scavenging the FFX-2 section, and I can't find enough to read. Don't mention _Moshi__ Moshi Mai's Every Heart_ though, because I've already read it plus the epilogue (yes I know she hasn't posted it up yet, but I get perks). You see, she's the sis that wanted me to write a RxG fic XD And would anyone know where _Lynnwood's Al Bhed Tradition_ went? It seemed to disappear off of =/

Response time!

**i**** won't tell:** How did I come up with Guppy? Well, doesn't Gippal _kinda_ sound like Guppy? In a way? Just a little bit? I thought so, and though, hey why not? I'm super glad you're liking this very much.

**RingPrincess****:** I'm happy that you find this very funny Glad you're enjoying it.

**:D****:** One of your favorites? Why thank you! Gippal would be nice to see with a pillow, no? I'm sure he'll survive somehow, even if Rikku hadn't thrown his clothes in his face, by charming all the ladies XD

**Black Mamba BWA:** I think I'll pick "Hilariously Romantic Because It Makes Me Fall on the Floor Till my Sides Burst". ;] Glad you like it!

**kingleby****:** Thanks for reviewing both chapters! Glad you're loving it.

**miyazawa****kano****:** I would love to see Gippal naked in a hallway too...too bad he's not real =[ I would also love to see Seifer Almasy and Vegeta naked in a hallway too...but cough...

**GCLover****:** Yup, Gippal is completely naked the whole time, but he _does_ have one pillow to cover himself up. He never did give up that pillow, because I'm sure that he wouldn't enjoy parading around in a hotel full of strangers completely naked. He'd probably be arrested for indecent exposure XD

**animeprincess101:** Thanks for your review! Here's my update =D

**Anna:** I do believe that Gippal and Tidus shall become friends later on in this fic - we'll just see about that, hmm? I'll try to add more funniness!

**Imloveless****:** Glad you thought it was good. Here's chapter three.

**Kiwifroot****:** Sorry it was so short! I tried to make this one a long one. Tidus isn't that dumb, he just doesn't think about what he's going to say before he says it. At least I've always thought of him like that.

**dragonmaster****:** It seems you hit the review button twice XD Glad that you like the story!

**the**** flaming angel:** Thank you so much for adding me to your favorites! I'm very very happy

**tonkeli****:** I didn't mean to make Tidus 'the stupid one', he was meant to be the comedic relief from all the tension that was going on. Don't worry, I'll try my best to write an insightful Tidus later (because yes, I do have plans for him to be intuitive later on) in the fic to balance out everything else.

**Rikku1:** Glad you think it's awesome!

**Al bhed Princess:** Glad you don't think they're OOC. Sorry about the "soon" - ness.

**xpunky-galx****:** Wohh!! What a cool word. I'm delighted you think this story of mine is great =]

**A Nobody:** Glad you're liking what you're reading!

I really appreciate all the feedback I'm getting. Thank you guys for your support!


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